Bank of England holds interest rates at record low

The Bank of England has left interest rates on hold at their record low, as widely expected, and financial markets are now looking to governor Mark Carney’s appearance on Wednesday for more clues on when borrowing costs will rise.

The Bank’s latest monthly announcement on Monday was moved from Thursday last week to avoid a clash with the general election. The nine members of the monetary policy committee met on Thursday and Friday last week and so the outcome of the election would have been clear when they voted to leave interest rates at 0.5%.

The Bank’s £375bn programme of quantitative easing (QE), which pumps money into the economy, was also held at the same level.

Bank of England bank rate 1694-2015

Rates have been on hold since March 2009, but it is by no means the longest stretch of steady borrowing costs in the Bank of England’s history. Rates were at 5% from April 1719 till June 1822. There were also long periods of unchanged bank rate in the 1930s and 1940s.Photograph: ING Financial Markets, Macrobond, Bank of England